1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color slide fastener and method and apparatus for fabricating the same, and in particular, to an improved color slide fastener and a method and apparatus for fabricating the same which are capable of easily injection-molding unit fastening elements (tooth of fastener) of a slide fastener in more than two colors for thereby diverging the design of various clothes, bags and portable things and implementing various design choices.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
Generally, the slide fastener is widely used for various products. A plurality of unit fastening elements are longitudinally fixed to a pair of support tapes (cloth tapes), respectively, for thereby implementing a fastening or unfastening operation, so that a predetermined portion of the product adapting the fastener is opened or closed.
The conventional slide fastener is formed of a support tape made of a pair of cloth pieces, and the unit fastening element and slider are formed of a synthetic resin or metal. The support tape, unit fastening element and slide are formed in a single color and single pattern.
In the conventional slide fastener, since the support tape and the unit fastening element are formed in the single color and single pattern, such pattern is different from the pattern of the cloth for thereby generating a pattern mismatching portion, so that a mismatching pattern and design in clothes, bags and portable things are formed. Therefore, there is a limit to implement various fashion and colorful design, so that a user""s personality and design choice capability are decreased. In addition, a design choice range is limited.
Therefore, as the use of slide fastener is increased, the demand for the color slide fastener having various colors and designs is increased.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a color slide fastener and a method and apparatus for fabricating the same which overcome the aforementioned problems encountered in the conventional art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a color slide fastener and a method and apparatus for fabricating the same which are capable of easily injection-molding a unit fastening element (tooth of fastener) of a slide fastener in more than two colors for thereby diverging the design of various clothes and portable things and enlarging a design choice.
In order to achieve the above objects, there is provided a method for fabricating a color slide fastener which includes the steps of a tape arranging step for arranging a support tape of a slide fastener on a mold having a plurality of unit fastening element molding grooves for molding a plurality of unit fastening elements, a molding material heating and discharge step for separating a molding material of more than two colors from a source material supply unit by the colors by a molding material injection means and then heating and discharging the same, a moving step for grouping external molding material flow paths from the molding material supply unit to an injection port of the mold into more than two groups and then moving different colors molding materials by the colors, an injection step for injecting the molding material into the unit fastening element molding material groove through a plurality of injection ports formed in the mold, and a cooling and extracting step for cooling and extracting the unit fastening element engaged with the support tape.
In order to achieve the above objects, there is provided an apparatus for fabricating a color slide fastener according to a first embodiment of the present invention which includes a multiple colors molding material means for molding a plurality of unit fastening elements in more than two colors engaged with a support tape of a slide fastener.
In order to achieve the above objects, there is provided an apparatus for fabricating a color slide fastener according to a second embodiment of the present invention which includes more than two unit fastening elements grouped into a predetermined number of groups in a slide fastener in which a plurality of unit fastening elements are fixed to a support tape, and a slider is engaged to the unit fastening elements.
Additional advantages, objects and other features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.